Living/Non-Living

This week we begin studying Living/Non-Living.  We study this by discussing what is alive (trees, people, deer - we saw 2 today!- plants, fish etc...) and what is not alive (houses, clothes, rubber bands...).  Today we gave a small group lesson where after discussing the principles of what is alive or not alive, they placed necklaces or labels on people/plants/objects in the classroom. 

Although this is difficult to see, the fish had a LIVING card placed near the tank.

The children also gave necklaces to people and plants who were living too.  They gave themselves necklaces as they realized, "I am living!!"
Tomorrow we will also be presenting the children with living/non-living picture cards to classify.  Ask you child if they know what is living or not living in your home. 

More sorting!

Today we put out a new work for the children to try.  It is another sorting work and they really enjoyed sorting the different beans.  This is a fun activity to do at home as well.  You could try it with different color buttons, pasta types, shells, rocks... the possibilities are endless.  Just make sure they don't go in the mouth! 

This is also a great fine motor activity. 

Afternooner's Lunch

We had read "Pancakes, Pancakes!" by Eric Carle on Tuesday afternoon and thought that sounded pretty good.  So, today our extended day children, aka "afternooners" along with a child staying for lunch made pancakes! 

First we made the batter!

We set the table together which included a plate, fork, knife, napkin and glass.  The children were able to serve themselves apples, cheese, water and pour their own syrup. 

We then gave a lesson on cutting food with a fork and knife! 

This was a very fun day, the children and adults seemed to enjoy all of the food! 

We also made very funny masks to surprise the morning children with tomorrow.  No scary Halloween masks here!  We used pictures from magazines to make various eyes and mouth masks.  We then pasted on poster board and put on a popsicle stick.  We were all laughing pretty hard at some of the silly masks! 

The afternooners also made cinnamon-squash muffins for snack tomorrow, it was a very busy day!

Continuation of the Pumpkins!

We have had many pumpkin activities this week as pumpkins are all around us.  Late last week we roasted pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin we had carved.  We have been offering these to children all week and have a very mild response.  Today we once again opened up another pumpkin to look inside (we are going to have a jack-o-lantern when we walk on the line tomorrow!) and found many seeds.  It was suggested to the child to once again taste a roasted pumpkin seed.  Pretty soon there was a line and asking for more!  Ask your child if they had some roasted pumpkin seeds today!  One adventurous child wanted to eat the raw seeds from inside the pumpkin! 

Scooping seeds out again!

"More pumpkin seeds please!"

We took this theme into art this week as well and offered pumpkin painting!

These little pumpkins were from the farmers market downtown Ann Arbor. 

The Bring Me Game

To aid comprehension of various letters and numerals, Dr. Montessori would play a game with children called the "Bring Me" game.  This involves setting up the material in a separate location and then telling the children to "bring me the _____ ."  The child then retrieves the object.  The children are requesting this game on a daily basis lately.  We have given many lessons with our sandpaper numerals so they are familiar with the names.  Because we have played this so much, we decided to let them have a turn being the one who asks for the numerals and the one who brings them back. 

Here the child is playing with two other children.  She has asked for a specific numeral from one child and the other is waiting.

"A seven!"

This is a fun activity to try at home. It can be used with colors, numbers, sounds etc... Just make sure you have told them the name first so it is not frustrating!

Whisking

We put a new work out yesterday that seems quite popular!  It is called Whisking!  The children take a tray with a pitcher, a bowl and a small whisk to a table.  They fill up the pitcher to the line and pour it into the bowl.  The child then uses three drops of dishsoap from a tiny bottle with a dropper and begins to whisk.  The result is a bowl of bubbles! 

This is an activity you could try at home.  Just try to have a child sized whisk available!

Pumpkins!

Given the season, we have decided to investigate pumpkins!  After washing a pumpkin on Monday, we decided to hammer little nails into the pumpkin (safely, with a tiny wooden hammer).  At the end of the day today, we decided to cut open the pumpkin (the teacher) and everyone had a chance to scoop out seeds!  The children all guessed what may be inside the pumpkin once opened up.  Very interesting ideas! :)

We will continue our study of pumpkins by studying the life cycle of pumpkins, tasting pumpkin seeds and a variety of other activities!